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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25058248">Age Is Just A Number</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmarexeyes/pseuds/nightmarexeyes'>nightmarexeyes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Last of Us</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:54:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25058248</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmarexeyes/pseuds/nightmarexeyes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a fungal like infection takes over, the world turns upside down. But when you meet Joel, your world was flipped around once more.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joel/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Age Is Just A Number</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the first part of my Age Is Just A Number series! I’ll be posting them here and will be linking them to my tumblr also! My tumblr is under the same username! Thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do I look like I really care what Seth thinks?” Joel asked as he wrapped his arms around your waist.</p>
<p>A small chuckle left his lips before he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead.</p>
<p>“Well obviously you do because you almost killed him when you heard what he said about Ellie.” You pointed out, making him roll his eyes.</p>
<p>“I mean I can beat him up if you want me to, I will gladly do that darlin’.” He mumbled, swaying the two of you gently to the music that was playing.</p>
<p>“Nah, I’d rather you stay right here with me.” You grinned and Joel did too, holding you tighter against him as if that was even possible.</p>
<p>“Now, I can definitely do that.” He whispered, leaning down for a kiss.<br/>~~~~~~~~~~<br/>You awoke to the sounds of gunshots outside, which honestly wasn’t that unusual considering the day and time you lived in. It was currently 2033 and the world was in its 20th year of fighting against the cordyceps virus. At this point, most people had lost hope for a cure but you had heard rumors from the fireflies that there was someone who claimed to be immune and that apparently they could be the one who helps to make a vaccine possible. You really didn’t believe that of course but anything that happens these days could be possible.</p>
<p>You stood up, dusting yourself off. You ran a hand through your hair as you picked up your gun, checking to see how many rounds you had before putting it in the back of your pants.</p>
<p>Walking out of your room and outside you looked around, seeing what Boston had to offer for today. All of a sudden you heard a loud explosion. It sounded like it had come from one of the checkpoints. You looked in that direction, hearing shouting and seeing soldiers shooting at, what you assumed to be, fireflies.</p>
<p>In the distance you saw what looked to be like a man and a woman running away from the checkpoint. From what you could see, the man happened to be pretty handsome and a bit older than you. The two were running in your direction along with a few others who didn’t want to get caught in the shooting. As you watched him, it seemed as if he was coming straight to you. You furrowed your eyebrows at him, noticing he was saying something but you couldn’t him through all of the noise. As he got closer, you were finally able to make out some of what he was saying.</p>
<p>“Move! Get out of the way!”</p>
<p>‘Was he talking to you?’ you wondered, not moving from your spot.</p>
<p>Suddenly he was right in front of you and he was picking you up and swinging you over his shoulder. A scream left your lips as the stranger carried you away.<br/>“What the hell is going on?!” You yelled, hitting his back. “Put me down!”</p>
<p>“If you want to stay alive I suggest you stay up there and stay quiet!” He yelled as he turned corners, going god knows where.</p>
<p>You eventually stopped trying to fight and just went limp in his arms, trying to look around you. It seemed at some point you had entered a building.</p>
<p>All at once he lifted you off his shoulder and sat you down on the ground.</p>
<p>“Where the hell am I?” You asked, looking up at him.</p>
<p>This was the first time you’d seen his face up close and damn had you been right, he was indeed handsome as hell.</p>
<p>He ran a hand through his hair and looked you up and down. </p>
<p>“Safe. Well as safe as you can be in an apocalyptic disaster. If you had stood there any longer you would have either been shot, run over, blown up, or taken in by the authorities and ultimately killed.” He pointed out, putting his hands on his hips.</p>
<p>“Well damn. Way to be straight forward there. But where exactly am I? And why didn’t you just leave me outside instead of bringing me in here?”</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow and looked over at the girl who was with him, who was currently talking to someone else.</p>
<p>“You’re safe. We’re gonna go through a tunnel to get outside. And as I said, you would have ended up dead if I had left you out there. Now c’mon, we gotta go.” He grabbed your hand and pulled you along with him.</p>
<p>“Um… why am I coming with you?” You asked, a bit confused by the situation.</p>
<p>He didn”t answer you, just continuing to lead you.</p>
<p>You let out a huff and rolled your eyes. He brought you into a room with a hole in the wall and a bookcase covering it. The two of them moved the bookcase to reveal the hole.</p>
<p>“Okay! I need answers!” You blurted out, throwing your arms up.</p>
<p>The two of them looked at each other and the girl shrugged. “You’re gonna have to tell her Joel.”</p>
<p>The girl climbed into the hole, leaving you and, who you assumed to be, Joel by yourselves.<br/>He sighed and ran a hand through his hair once more.</p>
<p>“I’m Joel and that’s Tess. You’re coming with us because Tess has seen you around Robert before. We have some… business to discuss with him and you could help us with that. You’re Y/N right?”</p>
<p>You listened to him crossing your arms and raising a brow.</p>
<p>“I can’t stand Robert. Only reason I deal with him is because he was friends with my brother before all the shit hit the fan. And yeah, that’s me.”</p>
<p>“Well you can help get his men off our backs so we can get in without having to shoot everyone.”</p>
<p>You heard Tess call out, that you needed to get a move on.</p>
<p>“And what’s in it for me? I’m not just gonna get you in without getting something in return.”</p>
<p>Joel sighed and thought for a moment. </p>
<p>“You’ll get something but we can figure it out after we deal with Robert.”</p>
<p>You looked at him for a second and uncrossed your arms, motioning him to move.</p>
<p>“Well let’s go then.”<br/>~~~~~~~~~~<br/>You walked out the door to see Robert lying down in a pool of blood.</p>
<p>“What the actual fuck happened?!” You yelled. “Why is he dead?!”</p>
<p>Joel sighed and ran a hand through his hair once again. That seemed to be a habit of his when he was trying to think of what to say. </p>
<p>“He was getting annoying.” Tess answered.</p>
<p>“But did you have to kill him? Cause now you’re gonna have to deal with his whole ass posse.”</p>
<p>“Well, we’ll deal with them when the time comes.”</p>
<p>Her and Joel began to talk about how they were going to get back the guns they needed. You looked beyond them to see a woman clutching her side.</p>
<p>“Where’s Robert?” She asked and your eyes widened as you pointed to his dead body.</p>
<p>“He’s taking a very long nap at the moment. Has a bad headache.” You mumbled and Joel let out a laugh.</p>
<p>As the group talked, it turned out that Robert had sold the guns to the fireflies. And now Tess wanted them back.</p>
<p>“I paid for those guns. You want them back? You’re gonna have to earn them.”</p>
<p>Tess looked back at Joel before Marlene spoke again.</p>
<p>“I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that, I’ll give you your guns back and then some.”</p>
<p>Tess and Joel looked at each other for a moment.</p>
<p>“What and where?” Joel asked and Marlene smiled.</p>
<p>“Come with me, I’ll show you the guns and we can talk.”</p>
<p>Joel and Tess started to follow Marlene, leaving you standing there.</p>
<p>“Um what about me?” You asked and Joel turned around, walking over to you.</p>
<p>“How about you join us? After we get this done we can talk about what you’re getting in return.”</p>
<p>You looked up at him and he smiled softly.</p>
<p>Groaning you once again motioned for him to go on.</p>
<p>“Let’s get a move on then.”</p>
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